Inspiring Teen Puts a Spotlight on a Pervasive Trash Problem
National parks benefit from Georgia’s Plastic Pollution Awareness Day
Originally published on National Parks Conservation Association (www.npca.org)
by Sarah Gaines Barmeyer, Senior Managing Director of Conservation Programs
Single-use plastic products are inescapable—from drinking straws to grocery bags to water bottles. The vast majority of these items do not get recycled. They end up in landfills and waterways where they don’t degrade. In other words, they will outlive us and cause a lot of environmental, health and financial problems along the way.
While addressing the rampant use of these plastics can be a daunting task, I’m inspired by people who are tackling this problem head-on, especially younger generations who will be dealing with these problems longer than most of us.
Meet Hannah Testa, a 15 year-old environmental motivator from Georgia and founder of Hannah4Change. Testa has worked with the Georgia General Assembly for the past two years to recognize today, February 15, as Plastic Pollution Awareness Day in Georgia. The goal of the day is to educate Georgians about excessive plastic use and waste so they can make simple changes to reduce plastic pollution.
